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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 34026 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, any historical figures or events, or easily recognizable persons, places or things. I make no profit from this work of fanfiction

Chapter List
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Chapter 214
The walk to the restaurant took twice as long as it should have. Every soldier they came across from the newest group stopped and bowed to Zuko. He had to convince them a nod was fine and they could skip the nonsense they considered to be formal greeting. Each chorus of “All hail and honor Crown Prince Zuko, finder of the Avatar, blessed son of Agni Incarnate Fire Lord Ozai and his everlasting queen Princess Ursa who was called to Agni’s side in the spirit world before receiving her earthly Fire Lady crown, beloved older brother to Princess Azula, conqueror of the Avatar’s Waterbender, hero to all children, friend to all animals, and keeper of our country’s future”, and their protest of “But your majesty”, “My Prince I could never”, and his exasperated eye rolls sent Katara into several fits of giggles.
Walking into the restaurant and seeing several people stand was the last straw for Zuko. He yelled, “If I see one person bowing and hear anything longer than ‘good afternoon Prince Zuko’ I will stop paying for your meals!”
Several of the crewmen from the Ursa and Lt. Colonel Wen’s group tackled the rising soldiers and covered the mouths with their hands. “Don’t worry Prince Zuko, these boneheads won’t do anymore bowing.”
“That’s right, we like eatin’ and not havin’ to cook fer it,” Fan yelled while subduing a much younger and larger soldier. “Ain’t that right Missy Katara? It ain’t quite our’n but everythin’s better without elbow grease.”
She nodded in agreement. She doubled over clutching her stomach when one of the culinary challenged warriors asked “what is elbow grease” and another explained “it was the yucky stuff between boiled knuckle and neck bones that felt like gritty worms in your mouth”.
Zuko frowned, “I thought elbow grease is the stuff you put on when your skin is dry?”
“No, Zuzu you use lotion when your skin is dry. Elbow grease is the thicker stuff for elbows, heels, knees and other places that tend to get calluses. I swear if it weren’t for me you’d still believe in the solstice rabbaroo that delivers rainbow colored eggs for Agni,” Azula huffed while commenting how was it their father had not burned Zuko’s tutors for letting him reach the age of maturity with such a lackluster education.
Fan and Katara shot each other conspiratorial looks before bursting into gales of laughter.
“What? What’s funny?” Zuko asked.
“Obviously your peasant and this cooking peasant have no concept of soft skin,” Azula said dismissively while grabbing Katara’s hand. “See it’s…soft.”
“So very soft,” the princess muttered in amazement. Azula’s lips twisted into a sneer, the Waterbender’s hands were softer than hers. She let go of Katara’s hand to grab Mai’s hand to compare. Her hand was rougher from handling knives and other projectiles. The princess sighed, “I guess that explains why he prefers her touch to yours. Mother would approve of her hands as well.”
“We need a table. Earth Peasant find a table large enough for all of us,” Azula ordered not even noticing the way Mai snatched her hand away and the look of hurt on her friend’s face.
One of Princess Ursa’s favorite sayings was that a woman’s hands must be strong enough to protect her family, her grip firm enough hold it together but soft enough to ensure every touch was soothing. Mai would have expected that type of comment from Fire Lord Ozai. Azula had said several cruel things to convince to her reveal her virginity and usurp the throne from Zuko but this wasn’t one of them. From the time were little Azula would get a certain twinkle in her eye and tone in her voice when she was committing mischief; this time there was no twinkle or tone. Azula was giving her honest opinion. She almost never spoke about her mother and that made the offhand comment all the more hurtful.
Ming led them to a table and as soon as they were seated Jin came out with menus tucked between her broken arm and torso. She balanced a tray of empty glasses against her hip with the other. Her hand shook as she set the tray on the table and placed menus then the glasses in front of them. Unlike the last time when she only recognized “Lee” this time she recognized all of them. Sing Se and Yong had been playing with her memory, drawing out everything she remembered from the time she moved to Ba Sing until the night she was brainwashed then manipulating it so that it best suited their and Azula’s purposes.
Jin’s voice trembled but her tears didn’t fall as she explained the day’s specials to the boy she loved, his fiancée and his girl who captured his affections.
Azula looked from Jin to Mai to Katara and finally to Zuko searching for a way to exploit the opportune moment. Zuko was talking to Ty Lee about something she recommended on the menu and paying no attention to what should have been an awkward situation.
Katara noticed the path of Azula’s gaze and calculating expression then decided to preempt her, “He’s hungry. He’s going to ignore all of us equally until he’s eaten. The only reason he’s talking to Ty Lee is because she said the words ‘try this it’s delicious’ otherwise he’d already have ordered the largest thing on the menu and something to tide him over until it arrived.”
Azula frowned at the accuracy of Katara’s statement. Zuko even ignored their father when food was involved and he was truly hungry. Her eyes narrowed and she tried a different method of attack, “You certainly know my brother but I suppose after everything you share you should.”
Katara’s lips twisted wryly, “I do; we’ve grown very close in the past months. I also know you, Princess Azula. You crave affection just as much as Zuko. He latches on and clings but you push people away deliberately because you want to see if anyone will make the effort to be close to you. You’re jealous of him, of me, of Mai, of Jin because unlike you we aren’t afraid to acknowledge feeling something other than anger. We don’t have to live our lives in fear of looking weak in front of your father or showing anything less than perfection.”
The princess wasn’t expecting Katara’s words to have such startling accuracy. Her lips were moving before she knew she had responded, “You bitch.”
Katara chuckled at the ferocity of the words and shrugged, “What else would you expect from someone Fire Lord Ozai acknowledges as a daughter?”
Azula laughed, suddenly understanding why her father liked the Waterbender; she was shrewd as well as brazen, “I suppose I should be grateful you are a water peasant.”
“Perhaps,” Katara replied. “If I were Fire Nation I’d already be married to Zuko and you’d have no chance of ever attaining the throne but as I’m Water Tribe you still have a chance. Unless I kill you first.”
“And how would you do that?” Azula questioned casually.
“I would drown you; that’s the only fitting death since you foolishly believe fire is superior. You would learn that water holds the key to both life and death. I’d do it slowly, letting you catch your breath before once again surrounding your head in a bubble of water. I would watch you gape like a fish as the life slowly left your body,” Katara explained wistfully.
“Fish, that would be good,” Zuko exclaimed catching the only word Katara spoke related to food. “Too bad there aren’t any lakes near here.”
“Zuko, did you just hear what she said to your sister?” Mai asked angrily.
“Yeah, she’d cook fish for her. I really don’t care as long as she makes enough for me too,” Zuko replied without glancing up from the menu.
“I guess you really do know him better than his fiancée,” Azula smirked before deciding to test it herself, “Zuzu, I’m going to burn off the other half of your face unless you renounce your birthright.”
“What’s going with the plate of rice?” he asked frowning as he debated between the curry he knew was delicious and the picken Ty Lee recommended.
Jin almost bumped into her cousin as she slowly backed away from the table. They were insane, all of them.
Ming stepped around her cousin and set a small tray of riceballs and a bowl of soup on the table for each of them when she returned to take their orders and collect the menus.
“We didn’t ask for-” Azula began but stopped when she saw her tablemates had already dug into the food. “Nevermind, I had forgotten. I was dining with animals.”
Ty Lee stuck out her tongue and placed her hands beside her head to mimic a dragon-moose’s ears and waved her fingers at her. Azula crossed her eyes and returned the gesture. Zuko shoved a riceball in each cheek and happily chewed on them while Mai lowered her face and lapped at her broth bowl. Katara watched in amazement as all of the Fire Nation teens burst into laughter.
“Mom was so mad when she caught us doing that!” Ty Lee exclaimed.
“Yours?” Mai shrieked, “Aunt Hinata banned Mu from their barns. When Uncle Niu tried to interfere with his punishment she made him sleep out there.”
Zuko extended his right hand, “Do you see my fingers? Mom made us write ‘I will not act like an animal at the dinner table during a formal banquet’ so many times that the calligraphy brush left an imprint on my fingers.”
“Mine too,” Azula nodded showing hers as well. “I had forgotten about Mother’s creative punishments and her temper. Zuzu do you remember the time Father played a trick on her and put a snake in their bedchamber?”
“I’ve never seen anyone run so fast or scream for help so loud,” Zuko managed to say between snorts and laughs.
“Was your mother afraid of snakes?” Katara asked.
Everyone at the table nodded, but Azula croaked out, “But not as afraid of them as Father was of her. I didn’t know he could move like that or his voice could reach that octave until I saw him trying to get away from her.”
“She caught him in the garden,” Zuko added
“Yeah, he was so scared he set his clothes on fire to dissuade her from giving him the thrashing he knew was coming,” Azula giggled.
“But she kicked him squarely in the rear and made him fall in the turtleduck pond!” both siblings exclaimed snorting, laughing, and slapping the table.

The food was brought out and Katara got another glimpse of how Zuko and Azula were as children; how they could have still been if not for the crown and their father. They shared and stole from each other’s plates then opened their mouth to show the half chewed food they’d pilfered. Between the five of them it didn’t take long for the food to disappear and for the first time Katara noticed that Mai ate almost as much as Zuko but with far more impeccable manners.
After the meal was over they continued to laugh and share memories of Princess Ursa. The good mood was ruined by the arrival of a messenger. The soldier bowed formally, “Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, your presence is requested at the hotel; gifts have arrived from the Fire Lord.”
Zuko took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Receiving gifts on his parents’ birthdays was a tradition his mother started; she didn’t think it was right for her children to give her anything since Agni had gifted them to her. His father continued the tradition but not in the same spirit. The last thing he had received from him was a bottle of glue and fishing net so he could hold onto the Avatar the next time he caught him.
Azula watched the smile disappear from her brother’s face and the light in his eyes slowly dim. It reminded her of how he and her father looked immediately after her mother’s death. She had never been as close to their mother as he was but Zuko had always been her primary source of amusement; he wasn’t any fun for months after her death.
She bit her lip as she looked out of the window at the Ursa House remembering the letter she’d dispatched to her father. He’d probably kill Zuko for that. She’d been so caught up in finally having a way to sure fire way to become the next Fire Lord she’d forgotten how boring the past three years had been without Zuko.
It was no fun picking on the servants, they didn’t fight back. Mai had learned to mask her facial expressions years ago and part of the fun was watching her target react. Ty Lee would either laugh it off or pout; her predictability offered no amusement.
Zuko always reacted.
Whether loudly, violently or pretending not to have heard her each time was different and amusing. Being around him these past months had been some of the best she could remember. She’d tease him, he’d lash out at her; everything was right in the world.
Zuko pushed his chair back and then slid Katara’s out for her. He helped her up then did the same for his sister. There was a resigned smile on his face as he used a childhood nickname to address her, “Come on, Lala, let’s go see what we get this year.”
The lingering taste of food in Azula’s mouth turned bitter and she began to see the folly in sending such a hasty missive. The princess swallowed thickly as it slowly dawned on her that if her father killed Zuko she would actually miss her brother. It wouldn’t be fair. She had just gotten him back.

Kain: I love how you worded your questions. Azula does the prefer the company of women but she wasn’t engaging in a “session”. She was actually sparring. Azula doesn’t have blood poisoning. She is physically healthy. Are the little hints of her mental state peeking through?
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Borealis: A Zutara Story